Nifty hovers near 5,950; IT stocks in limelight

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Market update: IT and Tech stocks hog the limelight

MUMBAI: The Nifty was comfortably placed above 5,950 level even on the back of rally in IT stocks after strong results from IT bellwether Infosys. Profit booking was seen in rate sensitives such as banks, realty and auto on rate cut concerns.

Infosys, country's second-largest software services exporter, reported consolidated net profit at Rs 2,374 crore for the quarter ended June 2013, down 0.8 per cent, against Rs 2,394 crore in previous quarter. Sales for the quarter were at Rs 11,267 crore, up 7.7 per cent, as compared to Rs 10,454 crore.

It left FY14 its sales growth guidance in dollar terms unchanged at 6-10 per cent.

The results boosted sentiment in Infosys and raised expectations that other IT companies will announce robust results for June quarter.

At 01:00 p.m.; the 50-share index was at 5,961, up 25.90 points or 0.44 per cent. It touched a high of 6,018.40 and a low of 5,951.15 in trade today.

The S&P BSE Sensex was at 19,817.31, up 141.25 points or 0.72 per cent. It touched a high of 19,962.78 and a low of 19,785.59 in trade today.

The S&P BSE Midcap Index was down 0.16 per cent and BSE S&P Smallcap Index was 0.12 per cent lower.

The S&P BSE IT Index was up 6.17 per cent, the S&P BSE Captial Goods Index gained 0.95 per cent and the S&P BSE Healthcare Index was 0.30 per cent higher.

Infosys (10.94 per cent), TCS (2.86 per cent), Wipro (1.75 per cent), L&T (1.74 per cent) and Dr Reddy's Laboratories (1.48 per cent) were among the Sensex gainers.

"The 4.1 per cent volume growth and 3.4 per cent constant currency growth were the highlights of the quarter. The better-than-expected revenue growth resulted in margins also coming in slightly ahead of expectations. The company has also increased the guidance on a constant currency basis, which is a positive," said Dipen Shah, Head of Private Client Group Research, Kotak Securities.

"We expect the company, under the leadership of Mr. Murthy, to take steps to further improve employee engagement," he added.

The S&P BSE Realty Index was down 1.47 per cent, the S&P BSE FMCG Index was 0.85 per cent lower, the S&P BSE Metal Index declined 0.72 per cent and the S&P BSE Bankex was 0.42 per cent lower.

The recent comments from the Governo Subbarao that inflation is still high and a weak rupee suggest that the central bank may not cut rate this month.

The June IIP and CPI data will be released today. According to ET NOW poll estimates IIP is likely to have grown at 1.4 per cent in May vs 2.3 per cent in April. CPI for June is likely to be at 9.3 per cent vs 9.31 per cent in May.

ONGC (3.31 per cent), UltraTech Cement (2.83 per cent), Maruti (2.52 per cent), Jaiprakash Associates (2.49 per cent) and M&M (2.15 per cent) were among the losers.

The market breadth was positive on the NSE with 469 gainers against 682 losers.

The foreign institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 638.26 crore while domestic institutional investors were net sellers worth Rs 234.61 crore on Thursday as per the provisional data from the National Stock Exchange.